“Who Knows What Evil Lurks In The Hearts Of Men?”

* Intro from the radio show “The Shadow.”

 

After the Martian debacle, I devoted my spare time trying to find Old Time Radio shows or, as is commonly known, OTR. One Montreal radio station provided this type of entertainment, but only two series were part of their repertoire; Gunsmoke and The Lone Ranger. At first, it was fun creating the movies in my head. Unfortunately, I wasn’t much of a western aficionado, and I quickly grew tired of Tonto and company.

 

Unable to find a source that was capable of providing a regular flow of content, I gradually lost interest with OTR.

 

A year later, I once again searched the ether for OTR shows. The interest had rekindled after viewing old black and white movies, or perhaps the extraterrestrial humiliation materialized among my angst-ridden thoughts. Regardless, for each night, I would slowly turn the dial of my portable AM radio, hoping to lock into a station that aired this brand of diversion. One evening, I tracked down “The CBS Radio Mystery Theatre.” which played five nights a week. The stories were well-produced and entertaining.

 

The episodes were aired late at night, making it difficult for me to stay awake in class. Reluctantly, I had to give up my ’bedtime stories’ or else would have been forced to repeat my High School Year.

 

A few months later, I noticed an advert in a comic book. The company was selling a sampler set of Old Time Radio Shows. The stories were a combination of Mysteries and Thrillers (which was my primary interest). I scrounged the required funds and, with poor penmanship, provided my coordinates. I dropped the envelope in the mailbox, returned home, and waited by the window. After 15 minutes, I snapped out of my stupor and enjoyed the start of my summer vacation.

 

Two weeks later, I received a large brown envelope. As if attempting to smuggle ill-gotten items, I held the package to my chest and sneaked my way into the bedroom. Like an excited child receiving a Christmas gift, I tore open the envelope and found a dark-coloured plastic casing in the shape of a book. I opened it and inside were six cassettes. I picked one at random and popped it into my portable player/recorder. I pressed play, and what followed held me spellbound. The musical intro, got my imaginative juices flowing. The show was titled House in Cypress Canyon, from the Suspense series. There was a moment in the performance that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Here I was, early afternoon on the sunniest day of July, scared out of my wits.

 

After that memorable fright, I purchased more comic books mainly to find anyone selling original OTR shows. When I mention this, I feel like the guy that insists he reads Playboy magazines specifically for the articles. I eventually located a collector in the United States who shared his catalogue of over 100,000 shows.

 

My assortment of dramas was, for the most part, originally aired between the ‘40s and ‘50s. Suspense, Escape, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, The Shadow, Inner Sanctum were but a few of the series I enjoyed. Perhaps the one I cherished the most was The Adventures of Sam Spade. William Spear, a master of radio production, was at the helm of the series. The scripts were well written. The acting was top-notch, and the narrative was seamless and natural. One forgot that the performance occurred within the confines of a sound stage.